Japan marks 80 years of atomic bombing as survivors seek nuclear disarmament amid global tensions
Event highlighted the survivors' frustration with global nuclear policies, as Japan's government faces criticism for not supporting nuclear disarmament
Japan's Hiroshima on Wednesday marked 80 years of the US atomic bombing on the city, with a ceremony reminding the world of the horrors.
The event was marked by a minute of silent prayer at 8.15am (23.15 GMT), the moment when the US aircraft, Enola Gay, dropped the deadly nuclear bomb ‘Little Boy’ over the western Japanese city on this day in 1945, AP reported.
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba accompanied by other officials laid flowers at the cenotaph.
The ceremony was attended by several survivors of the ghastly day. It comes amid the United States and Russia using the nuclear threat repeatedly over Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Looking back at Japan's darkest day in history
On August 6, 1945, the nuclear bomb sent by the US hit the city, reportedly killing nearly 140,000 people and injuring several hundreds.
Three days from then, a second bomb was dropped by the US on another Japanese city, Nagasaki, reportedly killing around 70,000 more.
This led to Japan surrendering on August 15, drawing an end to World War II and the country's nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.
The US, which never formally apologised for the bombings, was represented in the ceremony by its ambassador to Japan, said an AFP report. Russia and China were notably absent.
Renewed nuclear talks trigger frustration
The survivors and their families expressed frustration about support among global leaders, including Japan, for nuclear weapons possession for deterrence, as they paid tributes to the ones who lost their lives in the explosion.
US President Donald Trump's remark justifying Washington's attack on Iran in June, by comparing it to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the mild response from the Japanese government, disappointed the survivors.
“Our biggest challenge now is to change nuclear weapons states that give us cold shoulders even just a little,” said Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese grassroots organisation of survivors that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024 for its pursuit of nuclear abolishment.
With the number of survivors rapidly declining and their average age now exceeding 86, the anniversary is considered the last milestone event for many of them, the report read.
The tributes were paid at the city's peace memorial park around sunrise, hours before the official ceremony.
Hiroshima-Nagasaki survivors do not support nuclear talks
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reportedly warned in June that "a dangerous new nuclear arms race is emerging at a time when arms control regimes are severely weakened," with nearly all of the nine nuclear-armed states modernising their arsenals.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, on Wednesday, said it was Japan's mission “to take the lead... toward a world without nuclear weapons,” said an AFP report.
Former Japanese prime ministers have stressed the country's status as the world's only country to have suffered nuclear attacks, and have said that Japan is determined to pursue peace. Survivors contradict as they say it is a hollow promise.
The Japanese government turned down the survivors' desperate request to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons or attend its meeting as observers because it is under the protection of the US nuclear umbrella, AP reported.
The Japanese government has reportedly only paid compensation to war veterans and their families, even though survivors have sought redress for civilian victims.
